3 Life Skills Your Teenager in Recovery from Addiction Should Have

• Your teen needs to know how to cook for themselves. Diet and nutrition are an important part of your teens recovery. In treatment, your teen learns about what their body physically and chemically needs in order to heal from the effects of addiction. Working with a nutritionist or a dietician, your teen learns what food types they need for their body, how to eat to maximize vitamins and minerals, as well as practice some basic meal planning. Upon returning home, it is suggested that parents include teens in the meal time process. Invite your teen to participate in planning and creating meals for the whole family. Use meal time as bonding time and an opportunity to teach teens how to cook for themselves. By the time they're ready for college, they'll be well versed in the kitchen and fully equipped to feed themselves once they are living on their own.

• Your teen needs to know how to have a healthy routine. Routine doesn't have to apply to every single minute of every single day. Part of your teen's recovery is going to be learning how to be spontaneous in a healthy and safe day. In between improvised moments, there are opportunities for healthy routines. From the minute your teen wakes up to the minute your teen goes to sleep, there are things which should be part of their daily routine like hygiene, diet and nutrition, and other practices for their recovery. Sticking to a daily routine is a matter of habit. Addiction is, among many other things, a habit. Creating new habits of recovery takes time. With consistency, habits become a routine which doesn't have to be thought about- just like making the decision not to pick up another drink or a drug.

• Your teen needs to know how to figure things out for themselves. Modern technology has helped us be closely connected to our kids within seconds. If they have a question, we can find an answer. That quick technology means our kids can find answers, too. As parents of addicted teens we did everything in our power to help them figure out they had a problem, to get them into treatment, and to support them in their recovery. It might be in our nature to continue to guide their each and every footstep. At some point we have to let our children act on their own autonomy and figure out some of their challenges by themselves. We can offer them thinking points and guide them toward creating their own solutions. Teens have to learn that despite their past history of poor decision making, they are capable of making smart, healthy decisions, and taking care of themselves.

Stonewater Adolescent Recovery Center offers longterm residential care to adolescent and teenage boys struggling with addiction. Our foundation building, life cleansing program bring the family together again in mind, body, and spirit, for total healing. Call us today for information on our clinical programs and academic support system: 1-662-598-4214